PATRIOT PAC-3 Successfully Engages Multiple Targets

TEWKSBURY, Mass., Nov. 18, 2004 /PRNewswire/ -- Raytheon Company's
Configuration 3 PATRIOT System successfully engaged two targets simultaneously
today that were simulating incoming ballistic missiles during a test at White
Sands Missile Range, N.M.
This test involved Raytheon Integrated Defense System's (IDS) radar and
ground equipment and the currently under development post deployment software
build six acquiring and tracking the incoming targets and then passing the
data to Lockheed Martin's PAC-3 missiles. The mission was conducted in a
battalion configuration with three Patriot fire units, which were operated by
troops from Ft. Bliss, Texas, distributed in a tactical configuration. The
missiles utilized for this mission were cost reduction initiative rounds with
recently upgraded components.
This test validated acquisition and tracking of nearly simultaneous
targets followed by the successful intercepts. During the test there were six
missiles in the air at one time (two targets and four interceptors), making
this one of the more complicated tests ever conducted at White Sands Missile
Range, N.M.
Based in Tewksbury, Mass., Integrated Defense Systems (IDS) is Raytheon's
leader in mission systems integration. With a strong international and
domestic customer base, including the U.S. armed forces and U.S. Missile
Defense Agency, IDS provides integrated capability solutions to the air,
surface, and subsurface battlespace.
Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN), with 2003 sales of $18.1 billion, is an
industry leader in defense and government electronics, space, information
technology, technical services, and business and special mission aircraft.
With headquarters in Waltham, Mass., Raytheon employs 78,000 people worldwide.
Contact:
Guy Shields
978.858.5246
SOURCE: Raytheon Company
Web site: http://www.raytheon.com/